Tuesday 1 May 2012
Wednesday 25 April 2012
Evaluation
My documentary 'Teaching Teens' follows the school life of students at Hove Park School who are currently taking their GCSE's. It gives viewers a closer look of what today's education system is like and how a typical public secondary school operates. It also focuses on issues that arise on a daily basis within the school such as troublesome students.
Q. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The genre of my documentary is fly on the wall/observational. I studied a similar documentary called 'Educating Essex' to help me understand the conventions of these documentaries. In my documentary I used a range of techniques that follow the conventions of this type of genre.
Firstly, there is very little interaction with us film makers. Most of the footage is filmed as though the audience are looking upon it and at no time do the characters directly address the camera. The only exception to this is when the characters are being interviewed.
The camera shot we used to film the interviews were mid-shots. This captured the characters from the waste up bringing the focus onto the characters face which encourages the audience to connect with them. Throughout the interview us film makers are not seen nor heard, this also encourages the connection between the character and the audience because it is as though they are directly talking to them. We decided to film 2 of the interviews in front of a set of lockers as this iconography relates to a school.
< Educating Essex
Teaching Teens >
We used a number of basic camera shots such as long shots, establishing shots and wide angle shots to help set the scene. Our documentary is based in a school so the location of each shot was on the school grounds. Similar shots to what we used can also been seen in 'Educating Essex'.
< Educating Essex
Teaching Teens >
We also used a number of different filler shots relating to school and education to help break up the documentary and make it more interesting. One filler shot we used was of school equipment such as a text book, writing pad and stationary which were set out on a school desk. This reflects the school theme as they are typical objects you would find in that environment.
Other shots we included of typical iconography of a school are:
* Corridor
* Freeze frame of School Bell
My documentary 'Teaching Teens' follows the school life of students at Hove Park School who are currently taking their GCSE's. It gives viewers a closer look of what today's education system is like and how a typical public secondary school operates. It also focuses on issues that arise on a daily basis within the school such as troublesome students.
Q. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The genre of my documentary is fly on the wall/observational. I studied a similar documentary called 'Educating Essex' to help me understand the conventions of these documentaries. In my documentary I used a range of techniques that follow the conventions of this type of genre.
Firstly, there is very little interaction with us film makers. Most of the footage is filmed as though the audience are looking upon it and at no time do the characters directly address the camera. The only exception to this is when the characters are being interviewed.
The camera shot we used to film the interviews were mid-shots. This captured the characters from the waste up bringing the focus onto the characters face which encourages the audience to connect with them. Throughout the interview us film makers are not seen nor heard, this also encourages the connection between the character and the audience because it is as though they are directly talking to them. We decided to film 2 of the interviews in front of a set of lockers as this iconography relates to a school.
< Educating Essex
Teaching Teens >
We used a number of basic camera shots such as long shots, establishing shots and wide angle shots to help set the scene. Our documentary is based in a school so the location of each shot was on the school grounds. Similar shots to what we used can also been seen in 'Educating Essex'.
< Educating Essex
Teaching Teens >
We also used a number of different filler shots relating to school and education to help break up the documentary and make it more interesting. One filler shot we used was of school equipment such as a text book, writing pad and stationary which were set out on a school desk. This reflects the school theme as they are typical objects you would find in that environment.
Other shots we included of typical iconography of a school are:
* Corridor
* Freeze frame of School Bell
* School Office
* School Library
* School field
* School assembly
* Classroom
Other conventions that are found in documentaries are voice-overs. The voice-overs help to introduce the audience to the documentary and make it easy for the viewers to understand what is going on. This is seen in our documentary. At the beginning we introduce the audience to what the documentary is about, explaining that it observes GCSE students and teachers in a public secondary school. We also introduce the audience to the main character in this part to give the audience an idea of what he is like. In particular parts of the documentary we use a voice-over to narrate what is going on. For example when showing a clip of a clock we mentioned that Brad was late for his lesson, this is then followed by Brad walking into the classroom and being shouted at. We thought the voice-over was needed here so that the audience understood why he was being shouted at.
Each documentary has a theme tune unique to that programme. To ensure our theme tune was unique we made the music ourselves using FL Studio. We used the theme tune at the very beginning and very end of our documentary to give clear indication to the audience about when it was starting and finishing.
To make the documentary seem more realistic we decided to add '#Teaching Teens' to a clip a the beginning and a clip at the end. We thought this was a good idea because most programmes have started to show a hash tag so people can join in a debate and discussion about the show on twitter.
To make the documentary seem more realistic we decided to add '#Teaching Teens' to a clip a the beginning and a clip at the end. We thought this was a good idea because most programmes have started to show a hash tag so people can join in a debate and discussion about the show on twitter.
Q. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
I tried to relate my ancillary tasks to my documentary as best as possible. For my documentary poster I used one dominant image of 2 characters which appear in the documentary standing beside a sign of the school. I used the conventions of existing Channel 4 programme posters that I had researched. These conventions included:
* Channel 4 logo on middle right hand side
* 1 dominant image
* Tagline with background at top of poster
* Name of documentary and time/date with background
Likewise, for my double page spread I also tried to follow the conventions of existing examples that I had researched. I used one main dominant image of the main character in my documentary and several other smaller images which also relate to the documentary. I used a pale background so that the page wasn't too over powering with dark text which is easy to read. I decided to use the colour blue as that it the colour I imagine to be associated with Hove Park School because of the colour of the uniforms.
I tried to use the same fonts that were used in the documentary so that it is easily recognised and instantly connected with 'Teaching Teens'.
Q. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
We posted our final media documentary on YouTube and asked our for people to review it and give feedback.
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Q. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Throughout the process of this whole project I have used a number of different new media technologies.
Mobile Phones were a great use throughout this whole project. It meant that we could instantly contact each other and arrange days when we were free to plan, film and edit our documentary. It helped us to keep great communication.
In the construction part of the project I used a digital camera to film each clip. Once each clip was filmed I uploaded them onto a mac computer. After each clip was uploaded I used iMovie to put them together and create the documentary. iMovie is a film making programme which allows you to trim clips, add voice-overs, add non-diagetic sounds and add text to selected clips in order to make the documentary as you want.
When producing the theme tune for the documentary I used a programmes called FL Studio. This is a useful way of creating your own tunes.
When I was researching for existing documentaries I used the internet and a range of different websites such as YouTube and ITV player to stream episodes that I needed to study.
To get audience feedback we uploaded our final documentary onto YouTube and used Social networking sites such as twitter and Facebook to share it and get people to view it.
I also used the internet to research examples of double page spreads and posters for my ancillary tasks. I used Google images and Channel 4 website to view these examples.
For my planning I decided to do it all on paper as it was easily available and portable so I didn't need a computer to access it. I scanned the planning onto a computer and posted them onto my blog for others to view.
For the evaluation stage of this project I used a post on my online blog. I choose to do it this way because it makes it very easy to view and it is a simple way to ensure everybody will be able to access it as opposed to if I linked it from another website or used a different programme and upload it onto my blog in-case there are any broken links.
Q. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
We posted our final media documentary on YouTube and asked our for people to review it and give feedback.
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We also showed our media class the documentary and asked them to give us some feedback on it.
Based on the overall responses we have received I believe that our media documentary would be watched and enjoyed by a number of different audiences. Critical feedback that we have received is that the quality of the footage could be better which could easily be improved if we were to use a higher mega pixel camera. Another criticism that we received was that the voice-over and sounding of some clips wasn't very clear. This is due to us using only the Apple mac built in microphone for our voice-overs and the built in microphone on the camera for the diagetic sound. However, once again this could be improved by using the correct equipment.
Throughout the process of this whole project I have used a number of different new media technologies.
Mobile Phones were a great use throughout this whole project. It meant that we could instantly contact each other and arrange days when we were free to plan, film and edit our documentary. It helped us to keep great communication.
In the construction part of the project I used a digital camera to film each clip. Once each clip was filmed I uploaded them onto a mac computer. After each clip was uploaded I used iMovie to put them together and create the documentary. iMovie is a film making programme which allows you to trim clips, add voice-overs, add non-diagetic sounds and add text to selected clips in order to make the documentary as you want.
When producing the theme tune for the documentary I used a programmes called FL Studio. This is a useful way of creating your own tunes.
FL Studio PRINT SCREEN
When I was researching for existing documentaries I used the internet and a range of different websites such as YouTube and ITV player to stream episodes that I needed to study.
To get audience feedback we uploaded our final documentary onto YouTube and used Social networking sites such as twitter and Facebook to share it and get people to view it.
I also used the internet to research examples of double page spreads and posters for my ancillary tasks. I used Google images and Channel 4 website to view these examples.
For my planning I decided to do it all on paper as it was easily available and portable so I didn't need a computer to access it. I scanned the planning onto a computer and posted them onto my blog for others to view.
For the evaluation stage of this project I used a post on my online blog. I choose to do it this way because it makes it very easy to view and it is a simple way to ensure everybody will be able to access it as opposed to if I linked it from another website or used a different programme and upload it onto my blog in-case there are any broken links.
Sunday 22 April 2012
Saturday 21 April 2012
Wednesday 4 April 2012
Questionnaire
We set up this questionnaire to get the opinions of what our target audiences like to see in documentaries and if our documentary 'Teaching Teens' would interest them.
1. What gender are you?
Male
Female
2. How old are you?
Younger than 10
10-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
50+
2. What is your favourite type of documentary?
Mockumentary
Observational
Reality
Educational
Fly on the wall
Other
3. Do you watch documentaries often?
Yes- Lots
Yes- Sometimes
Yes- Rarely
No- Never
4. What channel would you normally associate with documentaries that you like?
BBC
ITV
Channel 4
Sky
Other
5. What is you favourite ever TV documentary?
.........................
6. What is your favourite TV documentary currently being shown? (N/A if none)
........................
7. What do you look for in a documentary that you would watch?
.........................
8. Would you be interested in a fly on the wall documentary based in a secondary school?
Yes
No
9. What channel would you expect to see this documentary on?
BBC
ITV
Channel 4
Sky
Other
Evaluation
We asked 10 males and 10 females to fill out our questionnaire.
From the questionnaire, we concluded that our target audience are most interested in Fly on the wall and Reality type documentaries, usually shown on Channel 4. We used this information and decided that it would be appropriate to show the documentary we have produced on Channel 4. The type of documentary we decided to produce is fly on the wall but because we found our target audience also like reality documentaries we also tried to incorporate this into what we produced. Many participants said they enjoyed watching 'Educating Essex' so we thought it would be a good idea to produce a similar documentary to this because it seems that it is something that interests our target audience. However, from this questionnaire we also found that people of many different ages would be interested in our documentary and not just our original target audience.
Sunday 25 March 2012
'Educating Essex'
Broadcaster: Channel 4
Educating Essex is an observational documentary set in a school environment. It follows the school life of GCSE students and teachers at Passmores School.
Each series consists of seven episodes and each episode focuses on different issues within the school, shown from both the students and teachers perspectives.
There are a range of different techniques used to give it a documentary feel. They use a number of interviews with the main characters in the episode, asking them their opinions on the issues shown at that current time. The interviewer is occasionally heard asking questions so its easy for the viewers to follow and understand what the characters are talking about.
Another technique used is a fly on the wall camera approach. The characters never directly address the camera apart from in the interviews which helps to give the impression of observation.
The editing is very basic which creates a realistic approach. By using a range of different styles of fancy editing it could cause the behaviour to come across as staged, much like a drama.
The five minute part documentary that I am going to be producing is going to be similar to 'Educaing Essex'. The same focus will be on students in an educational environment. I will also be taking the observational type documentary approach but I will incorporate some different documentary techniques to those used in 'Educating Essex'.
Broadcaster: Channel 4
Educating Essex is an observational documentary set in a school environment. It follows the school life of GCSE students and teachers at Passmores School.
Each series consists of seven episodes and each episode focuses on different issues within the school, shown from both the students and teachers perspectives.
There are a range of different techniques used to give it a documentary feel. They use a number of interviews with the main characters in the episode, asking them their opinions on the issues shown at that current time. The interviewer is occasionally heard asking questions so its easy for the viewers to follow and understand what the characters are talking about.
Another technique used is a fly on the wall camera approach. The characters never directly address the camera apart from in the interviews which helps to give the impression of observation.
The editing is very basic which creates a realistic approach. By using a range of different styles of fancy editing it could cause the behaviour to come across as staged, much like a drama.
The five minute part documentary that I am going to be producing is going to be similar to 'Educaing Essex'. The same focus will be on students in an educational environment. I will also be taking the observational type documentary approach but I will incorporate some different documentary techniques to those used in 'Educating Essex'.
Tuesday 20 March 2012
Initial idea: Cocaine
Our first idea to document was going to be an expository documentary based on Cocaine.
We were planning on making it a factual documentary aimed at teenagers, informing about the dangers, effects and background of the drug. We were going to arrange interviews with social workers, people who have had experience with the drug and doctors to help make the documentary seem more professional. However, we thought it may be difficult to arrange such interviews and if we were to have someone impersonate them it would make the documentary seem very amateur. We also felt that it would take more time then we had to plan it and film it and so decided against this idea.
Our first idea to document was going to be an expository documentary based on Cocaine.
We were planning on making it a factual documentary aimed at teenagers, informing about the dangers, effects and background of the drug. We were going to arrange interviews with social workers, people who have had experience with the drug and doctors to help make the documentary seem more professional. However, we thought it may be difficult to arrange such interviews and if we were to have someone impersonate them it would make the documentary seem very amateur. We also felt that it would take more time then we had to plan it and film it and so decided against this idea.
An example of the type of documentary we would have aimed to produce can be found here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/cocaine/4od
Sunday 18 March 2012
'How the other half live'
Channel 4
'How the other half live' is a documentary showing those living in poverty in Britain and those wealthier families in Britain. The aim of the documentary is to wake Britain up to the poverty right on our doorstep and the extreme differences between the life styles of families in the UK. It unites both the families and gives them a chance to explore the lifestyle of people on the extreme opposite end of the wealth scale.
The audience are positioned to feel sympathy for the family living in poverty. The documentary mainly focuses on this family, using visuals to emphasise their poor living conditions. For example, in one episode it shows their front door with over a dozen locks on for protection, teenage gangs hanging around outside the council flat and a scene of the police and an ambulance turning up outside to assist an injured drunk man, all of which is seen from the children's bedroom window.
It then contrasts the two different lifestyles by showing similar shots but in the wealthier families house. In this episode it shows the view from the wealthier child's bedroom of a huge garden.
Each child also gives a tour of their house to show the extent to how different they're living conditions are.
Sound is also used to contrast the two family homes. When it shows shots of the families home living in poverty there is an emphasis on loud hustle and bustle outside and sirens whereas when it shows shots of the wealthy families home it enhances the sound of the birds and the silence and peacefulness outside.
"Reality TV has had a very bad effect on documentaries"
Article: 5th February 2012
Nick Broomfield said reality television was "like fast food - it's junk and rots people's brains." "Reality TV has had a very bad effect on documentaries."
Many believe 'Protecting Our Children' points to a revival of traditional film-making. Few documentaries like this even exist because they take so long to make and their outcome is unpredictable.
Sacha Mirzoeff, director of 'Protecting Our Children' said "Documentary-making is about being able to make open-ended stories."
'Protecting Our Children' drew an audience of 1.86m compared with 3.6m for the recent final of 'Celebrity Big Brother', this is seen as a small triumph for quality, non-fiction programming.
ITV had started to invest in documentary and in the end the audience will win and get the documentaries they deserve.
Wednesday 14 March 2012
Our Crime: Attacked
BBC Three - 23rd April 2012
'Our Crime' is a series that has been broadcast on BBC Three, showing the consequences of youth crime today.
The episode 'Attacked' focused on stories of two different attacks that took place in south London. Both attacks lead to the death of the victims, of which were very different people.
One of the attacks was committed by a group of male youths aged between 14-16 years, who went around their town filming themselves assaulting innocent members of the public as a game of 'Happy Slapping'. They would then post these videos on line for others to see. However, one 'happy slapping' that went wrong ended with an innocent man being killed in public while standing outside his mosque with his granddaughter.
At the beginning of the documentary, a number of establishing shots are used to introduce the viewers to Tooting, south London which is where this crime took place.
As the story about the crime started to develop, CCTV footage of the incident and various other CCTV footage that the police used to identify the gang were shown. Clips that the gang had posted on line of other happy slappings were also shown in the documentary. By showing the audience this horrific footage, it strongly puts the point of the documentary across that crime in Britain needs to be stopped. It also helps the audience visually understand the extent to how serious and unprovoked the attacks were.
There were interviews with people who were associated with the attackers or the victim. One interview was with one of the attackers neighbours. She gave a background view as to what the attackers were like, to help the audience build a picture and opinion on them. There were also interviews with the victims step daughter and one of his friends who was there at the time of the attack. They helped to build a picture of what the victim was like and the consequences the attack has had on their lives. A metropolitan police officer was also interviewed, informing the audience of how crimes like this are dealt with.
The second story was about a gang rivalry attack on a young boy aged just 15. He was chased off the premiss of his school by a rival gang and then stabbed to death in a nearby garden. When broadcast on the news as an 'attack between 2 rival gangs', his family believed it portrayed him in the wrong light and as much of a criminal as his attackers. However, in an interview with his sisters and brother, and teachers from his school, it was revealed that he was just a bubbly but naive teenage boy who was reeled in to becoming part of a gang, much like a number of young people in Britain today. The gang responsible for the death of the young boy had posted videos of them selves on YouTube, rapping and bragging about how they carry weapons and aren't afraid to use them to protect their territory. These videos were shown in the documentary so that the audience could paint a picture of what the gang were like.
Photos of the victim and archive footage are shown a number of times throughout the documentary to reveal his outgoing nature and help us sympathise and connect with him even though he has passed away.
CCTV footage of him being chased along a road moments before the attack and footage of the crime scene cornered off are shown to shock the audience and make them feel like they are present even though they're not.
At the end of this story, a montage of footage of the victim is shown to make the audience see that he was just an innocent young boy that shouldn't have been killed and to once again get the point of the documentary across that crime in Britain needs to be stopped.
For both the stories, when interviews are being shown, the interviewees are watching the same clip that the audience had just watched. This is effective because it shows their reactions to the same footage and helps you understand what they are experiencing when being connected to such a horrific crime.
The interviewees were used as voice overs and there was little interaction with the film maker apart from occasionally heard asking questions.
Tense music is played throughout most of the documentary to make the audience feel on edge, up until the actions of the crime have been mentioned or shown. The sound then goes silent apart from the interviewee talking which creates the sense of shock. The music then changes to more low toned and slow which creates a sad atmosphere.
For both stories it shows archive footage of news channels that have spoken about these attacks. This creates a sense of reality and demonstrates how serious crimes like this are.
Throughout the documentary, the view of how tragic Britain is becoming when it comes to youth crime is put across. The idea that both of these attacks were fuelled by social networking and internet rivalry, something that every one of us can relate to, makes the audience realise that its not just a TV programme and that it is a real life story that could happen to any one of us.
BBC Three - 23rd April 2012
The episode 'Attacked' focused on stories of two different attacks that took place in south London. Both attacks lead to the death of the victims, of which were very different people.
One of the attacks was committed by a group of male youths aged between 14-16 years, who went around their town filming themselves assaulting innocent members of the public as a game of 'Happy Slapping'. They would then post these videos on line for others to see. However, one 'happy slapping' that went wrong ended with an innocent man being killed in public while standing outside his mosque with his granddaughter.
At the beginning of the documentary, a number of establishing shots are used to introduce the viewers to Tooting, south London which is where this crime took place.
As the story about the crime started to develop, CCTV footage of the incident and various other CCTV footage that the police used to identify the gang were shown. Clips that the gang had posted on line of other happy slappings were also shown in the documentary. By showing the audience this horrific footage, it strongly puts the point of the documentary across that crime in Britain needs to be stopped. It also helps the audience visually understand the extent to how serious and unprovoked the attacks were.
CCTV footage of attack on 'Our Crime: Attacked'
The second story was about a gang rivalry attack on a young boy aged just 15. He was chased off the premiss of his school by a rival gang and then stabbed to death in a nearby garden. When broadcast on the news as an 'attack between 2 rival gangs', his family believed it portrayed him in the wrong light and as much of a criminal as his attackers. However, in an interview with his sisters and brother, and teachers from his school, it was revealed that he was just a bubbly but naive teenage boy who was reeled in to becoming part of a gang, much like a number of young people in Britain today. The gang responsible for the death of the young boy had posted videos of them selves on YouTube, rapping and bragging about how they carry weapons and aren't afraid to use them to protect their territory. These videos were shown in the documentary so that the audience could paint a picture of what the gang were like.
Zak - The victim of the attack
Photos of the victim and archive footage are shown a number of times throughout the documentary to reveal his outgoing nature and help us sympathise and connect with him even though he has passed away.
CCTV footage of him being chased along a road moments before the attack and footage of the crime scene cornered off are shown to shock the audience and make them feel like they are present even though they're not.
At the end of this story, a montage of footage of the victim is shown to make the audience see that he was just an innocent young boy that shouldn't have been killed and to once again get the point of the documentary across that crime in Britain needs to be stopped.
For both the stories, when interviews are being shown, the interviewees are watching the same clip that the audience had just watched. This is effective because it shows their reactions to the same footage and helps you understand what they are experiencing when being connected to such a horrific crime.
The interviewees were used as voice overs and there was little interaction with the film maker apart from occasionally heard asking questions.
Tense music is played throughout most of the documentary to make the audience feel on edge, up until the actions of the crime have been mentioned or shown. The sound then goes silent apart from the interviewee talking which creates the sense of shock. The music then changes to more low toned and slow which creates a sad atmosphere.
For both stories it shows archive footage of news channels that have spoken about these attacks. This creates a sense of reality and demonstrates how serious crimes like this are.
Throughout the documentary, the view of how tragic Britain is becoming when it comes to youth crime is put across. The idea that both of these attacks were fuelled by social networking and internet rivalry, something that every one of us can relate to, makes the audience realise that its not just a TV programme and that it is a real life story that could happen to any one of us.
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